The Producers
★★★★☆ Flop stars
Festival Theatre: Mon 23 – Sat 28 March 2015
Review by Martin Gray
Two men in search of a flop, star in a show that’s anything but.
The curtain came down early on the first night of The Producers at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. Two songs in, and a technical hitch brought the safety drapes down on the Mel Brooks musical.
Perfect.
Seriously, it was mildly disappointing that the flow was dammed for five minutes, but in a story whose protagonists want their new Broadway show to flop, it just seemed so right.
And when the curtain rose once more it was to good-natured applause and cheers from an audience as warmed as the bulb which I believe popped us into that unexpected intermission.
Our heroes, Max Bialystock, a serial failure as a producer, and Leo Bloom, an accountant with stars in his eyes, realise that cooking the books means a show that closes on the opening night could make them rich. All they have to do is find a terrible script, put it in the hands of the worst producer in town, employ tragically poor performers, and $2 million is theirs.
To raise the initial investment, Max uses his tried and trusted technique of, shall we say, ‘pleasing’ rich old ladies with nicknames such as Kiss-Me-Feel-Me and Clinch-Me-Pinch-Me. An unlikely leading lady shows up in the shapely shape of Swedish Ulla, a true herring heroine, while the beyond camp Roger De Bris is entrusted with the script.
theatrical disaster is guaranteed
And soon it’s Springtime for Hitler with the Führer set to be played by the play’s author, Franz Liebkind, a pigeon-bonkers Nazi exile who never made it to Argentina. A theatrical disaster is guaranteed…
With Brooks’ hugely amusing script – co-written with Thomas Meehan – and lyrics, and his music homaging Broadway’s best, The Producers is halfway there to giving audiences a great time. And the cast assembled for this touring production take it home.
Cory English pitches Max perfectly, making him a little bit of a sleazeball but entirely likeable. He bounds around the stage with a grace that belies his character’s stocky frame and still has the energy to make his biggest number, Betrayed – in which he sums up in song everything we’ve seen so far – something very special.
Jason Manford makes the perfect partner, his Leo being a bag of neuroses that adds up to something very sweet. Watching the ‘very very very very very unhappy’ numbers man change from hunched, shambling mess to a contented player is a delight, and a testament to Manford’s skill. While I knew he’d sung a little on stage previously, to see a man best-known for a million TV panel shows deliver such numbers as That Face, Till Him and I Wanna Be a Producer in a gorgeous tenor was pretty special.
stunt casting
Another comic, Phill Jupitus, is a hoot as Liebkind, managing to be deeply sinister and deeply funny, while showing unexpected musicality. Louie Spence – a piece of stunt casting if ever I expected one – is actually rather splendid as Roger’s South American ‘common-law assistant’ Carmen. Yes, he twirls all the time, and does cartwheels, and pouts, but who knew he could handle an accent, sing somewhat and time a gag?
I can’t imagine a better Roger than David Bedella, whose resonant speaking voice, adaptable pipes and dancing dash see him threatening to steal every scene he’s in. His Liza Minnelli-style turn as a very fancy Fuhrer in Heil Myself is something to treasure.
And then there’s Tiffany Graves, whose light touch makes the super-sexy, fabulously flexible, almost innocent Ulla the object of both Max and Leo’s affections. A truly intelligent, instinctive performer, she’s one more perfect ingredient in a fabulously well-balanced cast.
I’ve rarely seen a show in which all the main performers complement one another so well – and the ensemble are so impressive, individually and en masse, that I don’t doubt there’s a load of excellent understudies ready to step in should any of the stars actually break a leg. You want dancing old ladies? Singing accountants? Stepdancing Irish cops? They can do it… director Matthew White, choreographer Lee Proud and the rest of the production team must be grinning from ear to ear.
And musical director Andrew Hilton’s band doesn’t put a note wrong with Brooks’ accomplished score, keeping things moving marvellously.
I don’t know if anyone reading this has enough cash to invest in a show, but definitely invest in a ticket – Max and Leo would simply hate The Producers, because this production is a million miles from a flop.
Listing
Running time 2 hours, 50 minutes (including one interval)
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT
Monday 23 – Saturday 28 March 2015
Evenings at 7.30 pm, Thursday and Saturday matinee at 2.30 pm
Tickets and further details: http://www.edtheatres.com/theproducers
The Producers on tour 2015: | |||
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23 – 28 March | Edinburgh Festival Theatre |
0131 529 6000 | Book online |
30 March – 4 April | Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Theatre |
0844 871 7652 | Book online |
7 – 11 April | Southend-on-sea Cliffs Pavilion |
01702 351135 | Book online |
13 -18 April | Brighton Theatre Royal Brighton |
0844 871 7650 | Book online |
20 – 25 April | Birmingham The New Alexandra Theatre |
0844 871 3011 | Book online |
27 April – 2 May | Bristol Bristol Hippodrome |
0844 871 3012 | Book online |
4 – 9 May | Belfast Grand Opera House |
02890 241919 | Book online |
11 – 16 May | Sunderland Empire Theatre |
0844 871 3022 | Book online |
18 – 23 May | Woking New Victoria Theatre |
0844 871 7645 | Book online |
26 – 30 May | Southampton Mayflower Theatre |
02380 711811 | Book online |
1 – 6 June | Liverpool Empire Theatre |
08448 713 017 | Book online |
8 – 13 June | Leeds Leeds Grand Theatre |
0844 848 2700 | Book online |
15 – 20 June | Glasgow Theatre Royal |
0844 871 7647 | Book online |
22 – 27 June | Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre |
01224 641122 | Book online |
29 June – 4 July | Oxford Oxford New Theatre |
0844 871 3020 | Book online |
6 – 11 July | Dublin Dublin Bord Gais |
0818 719 377 | Book online |
ENDS